Juliana Francis
A none for profit organisation, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), has called for an investigation into the alleged torture of citizen, Okechukwu Sunday Obi at the Anti-kidnapping Unit, Imo State Police Command.
RULAAC, while also calling for the disbandment of the Unit, revealed how Okechukwu was arrested and taken to the Unit, where his ordeal began.
The Executive Director of RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma, who is seeking justice for Okechukwu, said the family of Okechukwu, who is from Ihiteuboma in Imo State on March 9, 2023, informed RULAAC that their son, Okechukwu has been subjected to brutal torture at the cell of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of Imo State Police Command, Owerri.
Nwanguma said: “He has been hung upside down for hours, flogged and hit with machetes causing him to bleed with bruises and injuries all over his body. His life is in danger! We are informed that Okechukwu had on the 7th of July 2022 reported a case of threat at the Monitoring Unit of the State Command, against his two brothers Chigbo and Chukwudi Obi.
“The Monitoring Unit, sequel to this, invited Chukwudi and Chigbo. While Chukwudi reported, made a statement and was released on bail, Chigbo refused to report to the Monitoring Unit, instead went to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit and lodged a complaint against the complainant at the Monitoring Unit alleging that he is a sponsor of the ESN.
“Based on this allegation, which Okechukwu has denied, the Anti-Kidnapping unit on 7th March 2023 went to his house in Port Harcourt, rested him and took along with them his two jeeps.
“He has, since the past two days, been subjected to brutal torture at the Anti-Kidnapping Unit. Despite being informed of the true facts of the case, and without crosschecking with the Monitoring Unit, the operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit have continued to engage in abuse and violence against an accused person.”
Nwanguma said that the excesses of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of Imo State Police Command had been reported several times to both the Commissioner of Police, Imo State and the Inspector General of Police.
“But these reports and complaints have been ignored and the operatives are thereby emboldened to continue in their excesses and atrocities,” said Nwanguma.
The human rights fighter said that RULAAC was calling on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to order an end to the use of torture as a means of crime investigation by the police.
He further said: “RULAAC calls for an investigation into this case of torture of an accused person in violation of the Constitution, the Police Act and the Anti-Torture Act. RULAAC calls for the disbandment of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Imo State Police Command and an investigation into the criminal activities of operatives of that Unit.”
